A Face-Lift for Los Altos

Aug. 29, 2012 12:53 p.m. ET

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Google co-founder Sergey Brin has quietly become a power broker in Silicon Valley's Los Altos, in a bid to beautify and transform its sleepy downtown. Here, Linden Tree Books, a children's bookstore in downtown Los Altos.
Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal…

Mr. Brin, who lives in nearby Los Altos Hills, is bankrolling a real-estate investment firm that has bought local properties, renovated them and attracted new tenants.
Tony Avelar/Bloomberg…

Here, Bumble, a cafe in downtown Los Altos that has a supervised children's play area and sandbox
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The firm, Passerelle Investment Co., also has helped keep some existing mom-and-pop shops in place—sometimes by charging them below-market rents. Here, Frederic Sischka, owner of Fast Frame of Los Altos, a picture-framing shop in a large building bought by Passerelle in 2010.
Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal…

Mr. Sischka says Passerelle has helped to prepare Los Altos for the recent influx of younger parents with kids.
Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal…

Los Altos, which abuts Google's hometown of Mountain View, has fewer than 30,000 residents and is known for its strong public schools. Many technology executives live in town, though few tech companies are based there. European Cobblery, this shoe store in downtown Los Altos, got a face-lift.
Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal…

Passerelle, which is a French word for 'footbridge,' has paid tens of millions of dollars to snap up at least a half-dozen commercial buildings in the past three years, according to public records and local real-estate agents.
Jason Henry for The Wall Street Journal…